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US electric vehicle giant Tesla has started offering advanced self-driving functions for its cars in China, including autopilot on city streets, the company announced on Tuesday.The announcement comes after years of attempts to overcome regulatory hurdles blocking the update of such features in the world’s largest automobile market.Tesla said in a statement on its WeChat page on Tuesday that it would gradually roll out a software update that includes “automatic Autopilot-assisted driving on city streets”, as well as a rearview mirror function that detects whether drivers are paying attention.The functions described are similar to the “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) capability it offers in the United States. Cars with that capability are not fully autonomous and are meant to be used under driver supervision.The update “has already been released for some car models, and will be gradually rolled out to other suitable car models”, Tesla said.China is a major market for Tesla, where the company has two factories and is trying to compete with fast-growing domestic manufacturers.Tuesday’s statement follows an announcement by Chinese automaker BYD, Tesla’s biggest rival in the country, that it would introduce advanced self-driving technology for nearly all its cars.Tesla has been working to gain approval in China for FSD, which needs to be compliant with strict data and privacy laws.Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made several trips to China in recent years in an effort to win crucial data security clearance for the company’s locally produced models.- Tesla hype -Musk is a key figure in the administration of US President Donald Trump, who has imposed additional tariffs on products from China and has vowed to curb Chinese investments in technology and critical infrastructure.But the Tesla CEO remains a popular figure in China, where he is seen as a successful and influential entrepreneur.Musk has nearly 2.3 million followers on the Chinese social media site Weibo and his mother, Maye Musk, has appeared in advertisements for multiple Chinese consumer brands.On Tuesday, Tesla’s Chinese website was updated to allow customers to select “FSD smart assisted driving function” as a product on available cars.Tesla drivers quickly took to social media to show off the new functions, including posting videos that showed people driving their cars without their hands on the steering wheel.China’s tech companies and automakers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology in an effort to catch industry leaders in the United States.While consumers are still unable to purchase fully autonomous vehicles, China has already approved multiple self-driving taxi services in major cities.In the city of Wuhan, more than 500 driverless taxis ferry passengers across large swaths of the city as part of Chinese tech giant Baidu’s Apollo Go project.BYD’s “God’s Eye” autonomous driving system features remote parking and autonomous highway navigation previously found only on more expensive vehicles.The Chinese automaker said this month it would now make the system available even in budget models priced below $10,000.

Asian markets sank on Tuesday as fears of US President Donald Trump’s trade war returned to the fore after he called for fresh curbs on Chinese investments in strategic sectors including technology.The losses followed a broadly negative day in New York, where tech giants have hit a wall since China’s DeepSeek unveiled a chatbot that upended the AI industry and led traders to reassess their recent vast investments.They also come ahead of the release of earnings from market darling Nvidia, which will be closely watched for its views on the outlook in light of the Chinese startup’s arrival.After a healthy run in February, markets have been put on the back foot since Trump said on Monday that he plans to proceed with tariffs on Canada and Mexico once a 30-day suspension expires next week.Levies were announced against countries in January but Trump said they would be delayed by a month to allow for negotiations. Tariffs on Chinese goods went ahead without a grace period.The comments came after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said earlier in the day that talks would continue this week to avoid the sweeping levies.Asked about a Bloomberg News report that the United States was pushing her government to impose duties on Chinese imports, Sheinbaum said it was important to “prioritise those places where you have trade agreements versus others where you do not have them”.Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly warned “the threat of tariffs is a real one, and may continue for a while”.Trump’s announcement came after he signed a memo at the weekend calling for curbs on Chinese investments in industries including technology and critical infrastructure, healthcare and energy.The memo called for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to be used to restrict Chinese stakeholdings. The move was aimed at promoting foreign investment in the United States, while protecting national security interests “particularly from threats posed by foreign adversaries” like China, the White House said.The memo singled out China for “increasingly exploiting United States capital to develop and modernise its military, intelligence, and other security apparatuses”.China said the “US approach unduly broadens the concept of national security, and is discriminatory”.The developments fanned tensions between the world’s top economic superpowers and added to concerns about the possibility of another debilitating trade war amid growing uncertainty about the global outlook.”We see market volatility continuing in Hong Kong and China as investors digest the latest news on the Trump investment curbs,” said Heron Lim at Moody’s Analytics.However, he added that Trump had been pushing such measures in his first term. Therefore, “Beijing has had some time to mitigate the worst of the damage”, Lim added.”In some sense, the ongoing industrial and R&D policies of China are aimed towards self-reliance. The fact that the stock market in Hong Kong — seen as the barometer of foreign investor trust in China — is a long time away from its pre-pandemic peak tells us that these measures are largely priced into investors’ valuation of Chinese firms.”Hong Kong, where tech titans including Alibaba and Tencent have led the market to a three-year high, was among the biggest losers.The Hang Seng Index dropped more than one percent, with Alibaba and ecommerce rival JD.com off more than three percent and Tencent losing nearly three percent. Alibaba’s New York-listed stock sank more than 10 percent Monday.Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Wellington, Taipei, Manila, Bangkok, Singapore and Jakarta were also in the red.Seoul retreated as the South Korean central bank cut its economic growth outlook and lowered interest rates amid fears over the impact of Trump’s tariff drive and the fallout from President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief declaration of martial law in December.London was flat at the open while Frankfurt and Paris were down.Bitcoin fell back below $90,000 for the first time in a little more than a month as the optimism over expected Trump deregulation for the crypto market ebbs away.The sector has also been hit by the recent $1.5 billion hack of Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, representing the biggest crypto theft in history, as well as a memecoin scandal in Argentina.- Key figures around 0815 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.4 percent at 38,237.79 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.3 percent at 23,034.02 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 3,346.04 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,662.58Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0470 from $1.0468 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2621 from $1.2623Dollar/yen: DOWN at 149.21 from 149.76 yenEuro/pound: UP at 82.96 pence from 82.91 pence West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $70.86 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $74.88 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 43,461.21 (close)

South Korea’s central bank on Tuesday slashed interest rates and its annual growth forecast as it looks to bolster the economy in the face of US tariffs and the fallout from President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief declaration of martial law last year.Asia’s fourth-largest economy expanded less than expected in the final three months of 2024 as Yoon’s martial law move hit consumer confidence and domestic demand.That compounded fears over US President Donald Trump’s hardball trade policies that have seen him impose a broad range of levies on some of his country’s biggest economic partners since taking office in January.An official at the Bank of Korea told AFP it expected gross domestic product to expand 1.5 percent in 2025, down from its initial estimate of 1.9 percent in November.The benchmark interest rate would also be lowered by a quarter of a percentage point, the official said.In a statement released after the meeting, the bank said it projected a “slower recovery in domestic demand and export growth than initially expected”.It blamed “the effects of weakening economic sentiment and the US tariff policy” as well as political uncertainty stemming from the “martial law situation”.”There is a high level of uncertainty regarding the future growth path, including major countries’ trade policies, (and) the direction of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy,” it added.Trump warned last week that he would impose tariffs “in the neighbourhood of 25 percent” on auto imports and a similar amount or higher on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.South Korea is home to the world’s key chipmakers, Samsung and SK hynix, and was the fourth-largest exporter of steel to the United States last year.Governor Rhee Chang-yong said South Korea would continue to face challenges with tariffs unless it develops new industries.”What our government should feel most painfully about the past 10 years is that no new industries have been introduced during this time,” he told reporters.”If we don’t address this issue, these problems will keep recurring,” he added.- ‘Weak’ data -South Korea’s trade ministry last week said it had asked Washington to exclude it from planned US tariffs on steel and aluminium.The country’s steel industry was already facing intense pressure in recent years as it grappled with oversupply — particularly from China — and a decrease in global demand.The US tariffs are likely to intensify those challenges.Analysts warn that should cheap Chinese steel which has been barred from the US market begin to flood regions such as Southeast Asia and Europe, South Korean steel producers will face deepening price competition.The Bank of Korea also said Tuesday that employment had continued to slow.”The data for early 2025 have been weak amid signs the political crisis is weighing on the economy,” Gareth Leather, senior Asia economist at Capital Economics, said.But he added that even if the crisis is resolved soon, growth is likely to remain weak because of a “downturn in the property sector and tight fiscal policy weighing on demand”.Dave Chia, associate economist at Moody’s Analytics, said he expected at least one more rate cut this year.”The boom in artificial intelligence should sustain shipments of advanced memory chips,” he wrote in a note. But a “slowdown in other major categories” stands to limit South Korea’s export growth, he added.

Frankfurt equities squeezed out gains Monday after conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany’s national election, with investors hoping that Europe’s largest economy can emerge from recession.Elsewhere equities mostly slid with investors still concerned about the inflationary effect of US President Donald Trump’s plans to slap tariffs on various trading partners and their impact on interest rates and economic growth.Major US indices finished mostly lower after Trump signaled plans to proceed with tariffs on Canada and Mexico once a 30-day suspension expires.”Markets like certainty,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments. “Right now there is high uncertainty.”But earlier, Frankfurt’s DAX index jumped 0.8 percent at the start of trading but gave up part of its gains as the day wore on, closing 0.6 percent higher.Merz urged a speedy formation of a new coalition government, warning that Trump was driving rapid and disruptive changes and that “the world isn’t waiting for us.””The hope that the conservatives’ win might help pull Germany out of economic stupor and help bolster collective defense has lifted investor spirits,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.European defense stocks gained, with Germany’s Rheinmetall up more than six percent and Britain’s BAE Systems up nearly four percent.With more than 28 percent of the vote, Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc handily defeated Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens, as the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany celebrated a record of over 20 percent.Merz said he would reach out to the Social Democrats with hopes of forging a stable ruling alliance of the two traditional big-tent parties.But CMC Markets analyst Konstantin Oldenburger said the failure of the DAX to hold onto its gains “can likely be attributed to the understanding that the crucial negotiations between the (conservatives) and the SPD are yet to come.”The euro rose against the dollar and the pound.Elsewhere Monday, shares in Amsterdam-listed Just Eat Takeaway soared almost 54 percent after it received a 4.1 billion euro ($4.3 billion) takeover offer from investment giant Prosus.Asian equity markets mostly fell following a dour end to last week for Wall Street fueled by disappointing economic data, with a report on Friday showing that activity in the US key services sector hit a 25-month low in February and that consumer sentiment dived almost 10 percent from January.This week’s calendar includes earnings from artificial intelligence giant Nvidia, key US inflation data and a different reading on consumer confidence.Among individual companies, Starbucks rose 1.3 percent as the coffee giant said it would cut 1,100 corporate and administrative jobs as part of a reorganization under new CEO Brian Niccol.But Alibaba tumbled 10.3 percent after announcing plans to spend more than $50 billion on artificial intelligence over the next three years, sparking worries about profitability.- Key figures around 2140 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 43,461.21 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.5 percent at 5,983.25 (close)New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 1.2 percent at 19,286.92 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 22,425.93 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,090.99 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,658.98 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 23,341.61 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,373.03 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.0468 from $1.0458 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2623 from $1.2632Dollar/yen: UP at 149.76 from 149.73 yenEuro/pound: UP at 82.91 pence from 82.79 pence Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $74.78 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $70.70 per barrelburs-jmb/bfm

Chinese tech giant Alibaba said Monday it will spend more than $50 billion on artificial intelligence and cloud computing over the next three years, a week after co-founder Jack Ma was seen meeting President Xi Jinping.Investors have piled into Chinese technology stocks since the start of the year, with Alibaba — which runs some of the country’s biggest online shopping platforms — seeing its shares soar to three-year highs.But shares of the e-commerce behemoth nosedived in New York after the big investment push raised worries that the spending would dent profitability.”The main takeaway is that Alibaba’s ambitious spending plans for fiscal 2025 are creating some anxiety that the company’s bottom-line will take a sizeable hit this year, negating the momentum that it has garnered,” said a note from Briefing.com.Near 16:35 GMT on Monday, shares of Alibaba were down more than nine percent.Alibaba plans to “invest at least 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) over the next three years to advance its cloud computing and AI infrastructure”, a company statement said.The firm said its strategy was aimed at “reinforcing (Alibaba’s) commitment to long-term technological innovation… (and) underscores the company’s focus on AI-driven growth”.The statement did not detail how the company would allocate the funds or what specific projects would be supported.It did add that the investment would exceed its total AI and cloud spending over the past decade.Alibaba last week reported an eight percent bump in revenue for the three months through December, beating estimates to reach 280 billion yuan — and triggering a 14 percent surge in its Hong Kong shares on Friday.CEO Eddie Wu said last week that the quarterly results “demonstrated substantial progress in (Alibaba’s) ‘user-first, AI-driven’ strategies and the re-accelerated growth of our core businesses”.The company and its industry peers endured years of dampened investor confidence after Beijing launched an aggressive regulatory crackdown on the tech sector in 2020.But they have been riding higher in recent months, buoyed by the launch of a chatbot by Chinese startup DeepSeek that has upended the AI industry.The turnaround comes as the world’s second-largest economy continues to battle sluggish consumption and persistent woes in the property sector.At a rare meeting with business luminaries last week, Xi hailed the private sector and said the current economic problems were “surmountable” — a move widely interpreted as a show of support for big tech.Co-founder Ma remains an influential figure despite no longer being an Alibaba executive and shunning the limelight since authorities brought down affiliate Ant Group’s high-stakes IPO in 2020.His inclusion in the meeting hinted at the billionaire magnate’s potential public rehabilitation following the tangle with regulators.

With “Monster Hunter Wilds” pitting intrepid players against a menagerie of rampaging beasts on PC and consoles from Friday, the game’s creators tell AFP they hope the 20-year-old franchise can still find new audiences.It has been seven years since the last major instalment saw fans draw oversized swords and bows together, in a series whose success is built on cooperative play to take down dragons and other spectacularly-rendered creatures.Co-op is “really the heart of the series and at the core of its DNA,” said the game’s director Yuya Tokuda.Long queues to test the new instalment at conventions and mass participation in an online open test weekend in October have underscored the anticipation in recent months.”Rather than feeling pressure… it’s actually more of a useful chance for us to see the players’ reactions and also get data about what it is we should be working on,” Ryozo Tsujimoto, the series’ 50-something longtime producer said during a trip to Europe weeks ahead of the release.”Wilds” is the first “Monster Hunter” instalment built for latest-generation consoles.Tsujimoto says this will allow for “even more seamless” play, highlighting that there will be no loading screens between players’ base camp and the monster-haunted open world beyond.Such changes “make you feel like you really are part of the ecosystem from start to finish every time you play the game,” he said.But even on more powerful machines, it was “really quite difficult” to populate the environment with the huge numbers of monsters and other creatures that the developers wanted, Tsujimoto added.There were “lots of programming challenges and also hardware challenges,” he said.- Stoking the hype -The “Monster Hunter” series has shipped more than 108 million units since the first release on Playstation 2, making it a second tentpole franchise for Japanese publisher Capcom alongside the “Resident Evil” zombie saga.It took time and several instalments for “Monster Hunter” to win popularity outside Japan itself.Back then, “we didn’t really have a development schedule… set up for simultaneous localised release around the world,” Tsujimoto remembers.That meant delays of up to a year for different language versions to be adapted, undermining the hype around new releases beyond the home market.”All the news about what was going to be in the game, which monsters and features, had already come out globally, players felt like they’d seen it all from looking online,” Tsujimoto said.These days releases are synchronised around the world to strike while the anticipation is at its peak.- Broadening reach -“Monster Hunter” has also benefited from vastly more players able to join in online with high-quality connections.”Breaking down each of those barriers… is what finally brought us out of niche status in the West and into a global blockbuster,” Tsujimoto said.Nevertheless, “there are still people out there who don’t know about ‘Monster Hunter’,” he added.It was up to the studio to “try and find new ways to make sure that the ‘Monster Hunter’ name spreads among as large an audience around the world as possible”.A first film set in the universe of the games, released in 2020, was a relative flop.That hasn’t put off Tsujimoto, who says “image licensing” is “something we’re aways considering as being on the table”.Although naming no plans for the immediate future, the producer is “always thinking of ways to expand the series around the world”, including to “people who don’t play games”, he said.Tsujimoto and Tokuda did not comment on whether “Wilds” would be available for Nintendo’s hotly-anticipated Switch 2 console, set for release later this year.But looking to the future, “we do still have plenty of monster ideas up our sleeves,” Tokuda said.

Frankfurt equities and the euro rose Monday after conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany’s national election, with investors hoping that Europe’s largest economy can emerge from recession.Elsewhere, London and Paris slipped tracking losses in Asia, while Wall Street rebounded from heavy selling at the end of last week.Frankfurt’s DAX index gained 0.6 percent in afternoon deals after Merz urged a speedy formation of a new coalition government. He warned that as US President Donald Trump is driving rapid and disruptive changes, “the world isn’t waiting for us”.”The hope that the conservatives’ win might help pull Germany out of economic stupor and help bolster collective defence, has lifted investor spirits,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.European defence stocks gained, with Germany’s Rheinmetall up 4.5 percent and Britain’s BAE Systems up 3.8 percent.The gains came “off the back of Merz’s call for Europe to seek independence from the US — with the obvious inference that the continent needs to take more responsibility for its own security”, said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. With more than 28 percent of the vote, Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc handily defeated Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens, as the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany celebrated a record of over 20 percent.”Investors welcomed the outcome of Germany’s election, which saw centrist parties positioned to form a coalition,” said City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.”However, while the initial reaction was upbeat, it remains to be seen whether the enthusiasm will be maintained deeper into the week, or even the session once US investors come to the fray,” he added.Elsewhere Monday, shares in Amsterdam-listed Just Eat Takeaway soared more than 53 percent after it received a 4.1-billion-euro ($4.3-billion) takeover offer from investment giant Prosus.Asian equity markets mostly fell following a dour end to last week for Wall Street fuelled by disappointing economic data, with a report on Friday showing that activity in the US key services sector hit a 25-month low in February.The drop in was “attributed to political uncertainty, with tariff threats and Federal spending cuts dampening services,” said market analyst David Morrison at Trade Nation.Meanwhile separate data indicated that consumer sentiment dived almost 10 percent from January.The readings follow a recent run of figures pointing to a softening of the labour market and prices continuing to rise faster than the Federal Reserve’s target rate.Investors have increasingly feared the inflationary impact of Trump’s plans to impose import tariffs and slash taxes, immigration and regulation.That has led investors to scale back expectations for how many interest rate cuts the Fed will make this year.Shanghai fell and Hong Kong retreated from Friday’s blockbuster rally fuelled by tech firms, in particular e-commerce titan Alibaba.Oil prices edged up after dropping as much as three percent on Friday as the weak US data sparked demand fears, while there are also growing expectations Trump will ease the sanctions that have limited Russian oil exports.- Key figures around 1430 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 43,579.31 pointsNew York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 6,030.99New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 19,590.85Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 22,421.31 Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,103.74London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,649.14Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 23,341.61 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,373.03 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.0468 from $1.0462 on FridayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2638 from $1.2628Dollar/yen: UP at 149.63 from 149.32 yenEuro/pound: UP at 82.82 pence from 82.81 pence Brent North Sea Crude: UP less than 0.1 percent at $74.12 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP less than 0.1 percent at $70.44 per barrelburs-rl/js

Asian markets mostly fell Monday following a dour end to last week for Wall Street fuelled by disappointing economic data, but Frankfurt and the euro rose after conservatives won Germany’s closely watched election.After a healthy performance on Friday, Asian investors struggled to maintain momentum after big losses in New York, where the Nasdaq lost more than two percent.The selling came after a report showed activity in the key services sector hit a 25-month low in February, while separate data indicated consumer sentiment dived almost 10 percent from January.Meanwhile, another study revealed that expectations for inflation hit a three-decade high.The readings follow a recent run of figures pointing to a softening of the labour market and prices continuing to rise faster than the Federal Reserve’s target rate.There have been increasing fears since Donald Trump regained the US presidency that his plans to impose import tariffs, and slash taxes, immigration and regulations would reignite inflation.That has led investors to scale back their expectations for how many interest rate cuts the Fed will make this year.Hong Kong retreated after Friday’s blockbuster rally fuelled by tech firms, particularly an eye-watering rise of more than 14 percent in ecommerce titan Alibaba.Shanghai, Seoul, Mumbai, Taipei, Manila, Jakarta, Bangkok and Wellington were also in the red.Sydney and Singapore also edged up but the rest of the region struggled.London edged up at the open but Paris slipped.Frankfurt’s DAX index and the euro were boosted by news that conservatives won a closely watched election in Germany, with leader Friedrich Merz urging the speedy formation of a new coalition government.Merz’s CDU/CSU alliance won more than 28 percent, according to projections, crushing the Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which came third.But there was some nervousness after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came second, almost doubling its score to more than 20 percent.Merz said he wanted to quickly form a government, warning that as Trump is driving rapid and disruptive changes, “the world isn’t waiting for us”.”Markets will like that, presuming it is achieved,” said National Australia Bank’s senior forex analyst Rodrigo Catril.But SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes said: “With these results, the next government’s first priority won’t be fixing Germany’s stagnating economy — it’ll be damage control.”Expect a hard pivot toward stricter immigration policies, not because of economic necessity but because mainstream parties are now in full-blown panic mode over the AfD’s rise.”Oil prices extended losses after dropping as much as three percent on Friday as the weak US data sparked demand fears, while there are also growing expectations Trump will ease the sanctions that have limited Russian oil exports.- Key figures around 0815 GMT -Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 23,341.61 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,373.03 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,665.27Tokyo – Nikkei 225: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.0500 from $1.0462 on FridayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2643 from $1.2628Dollar/yen: UP at 149.45 from 149.32 yenEuro/pound: UP at 82.96 pence from 82.81 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $70.16 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $73.88 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 1.7 percent at 43,428.02 (close)

Indonesia on Monday launched a new sovereign wealth fund that will aim to manage state assets worth more than $900 billion as President Prabowo Subianto looks to turbo-charge growth in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.The recently inaugurated leader has pledged to take the archipelago’s annual growth from five to eight percent, ordering billions of dollars worth of cuts across government that last week sparked the first protests of his rule.Prabowo signed a document at the presidential palace in Jakarta initiating the new fund known as Daya Anagata Nusantara, or Danantara, which is modelled on Singapore’s investment arm Temasek and received approval this month in a parliament dominated by the president’s ruling coalition. “I, as the president of the Republic of Indonesia, sign… the government decree… about the organisation and governance of the Investment Management Body, Daya Anagata Nusantara,” he said at the palace.”It is not just an investment body, it is an instrument for national development that will optimise the way we manage our wealth. We are committed to being a developed nation.”Danantara will take control of government holdings in state companies, with an initial budget of $20 billion, according to state news agency Antara.Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani has been picked as the chief executive of the fund, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto told reporters after the signing.The government has not specified which state-owned companies will fall under control of the fund but Prabowo has said he wants it to manage more than $900 billion in assets.As of 2023, government data showed state-owned enterprise assets were worth $637.5 billion, much lower than Prabowo’s target.He will use the fund as an investment vehicle and said it would “be invested in 20 or more high-impact national projects” this year.Prabowo said the initial funding would be used for projects in nickel, bauxite, copper, food production, renewable energy and building an AI centre, oil refinery and petrochemical factory.- ‘New era’ -Danantara will be Indonesia’s second sovereign wealth fund, after the Indonesia Investment Authority which was launched in 2021 and holds $10.5 billion in assets.”This event marks a new era in the transformation of strategic investment management in the country,” presidential secretariat spokesman Yusuf Permana said in a statement Sunday.”It is also part of the government’s commitment to realising… a grand vision aimed at elevating Indonesia’s economy to a higher level through sustainable and inclusive investments.”Prabowo’s cuts to fund Danantara and an ambitious multi-billion-dollar free lunch programme have stoked student-led protests by thousands across Indonesia’s cities, including the eastern city of Makassar where police fired tear gas.Austerity measures announced by Prabowo in late January sparked the rallies last week, underpinned by a social media movement known as “Dark Indonesia”.The fund will also report directly to Prabowo and some experts have cautioned that it will need proper monitoring and management, otherwise it could raise governance concerns.Danantara’s launch was also met with some opposition on social media by Indonesians angry at the government’s handling of finances in a country long known for red tape and corruption.”The state can’t even manage life insurance properly. How can it manage a Danantara-style Sovereign Wealth Fund?” asked one user on X.

Asian markets mostly fell Monday following a dour end to last week for Wall Street, where a disappointing round of data added to concerns about the world’s number one economy.The euro started on the front foot after conservatives won a closely watched election in Germany, with leader Friedrich Merz urging the speedy formation of a new coalition government.After a healthy performance on Friday, Asian investors struggled to maintain momentum after big losses in New York, where the Nasdaq lost more than two percentThe selling came after a report showed activity in the key services sector hit a 25-month low in February, while separate data indicated consumer sentiment dived almost 10 percent from January.Meanwhile, another study revealed that expectations for inflation hit a three-decade high.The readings follow a recent run of figures pointing to a softening of the labour market and prices continuing to rise faster than the Federal Reserve’s target rate.There have been increasing fears since Donald Trump regained the US presidency that his plans to impose import tariffs, and slash taxes, immigration and regulations would reignite inflation.That has led investors to scale back their expectations for how many interest rate cuts the Fed will make this year.Hong Kong advanced in early Asian trade, building on Friday’s blockbuster rally fuelled by tech firms, particularly an eye-watering rise of more than 14 percent in ecommerce titan Alibaba.The Chinese firm piled on more than one percent, while JD.com was up 0.9 percent.However, while Singapore also edged up the rest of the region struggled.Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Manila, Jakarta and Wellington were all in the red.The euro got a lift from news that Merz’s CDU/CSU alliance won more than 28 percent, according to projections, crushing the Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which came third.The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came second, almost doubling its score to over 20 percent.Merz said he wanted to quickly form a government, warning that as Trump is driving rapid and disruptive changes, “the world isn’t waiting for us”.”Markets will like that, presuming it is achieved,” said National Australia Bank’s senior forex analyst Rodrigo Catril.Oil prices extended losses after dropping as much as three percent on Friday as the weak US data sparked demand fears, while there are also growing expectations Trump will ease the sanctions that have limited Russian oil exports.- Key figures around 0230 GMT -Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 23,494.24Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,370.56Tokyo – Nikkei 225: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.0521 from $1.0462 on FridayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2682 from $1.2628Dollar/yen: UP at 149.45 from 149.32 yenEuro/pound: UP at 82.96 pence from 82.81 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $70.27 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $73.97 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 1.7 percent at 43,428.02 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,659.37 (close)